


Caged Bird

by Davechicken



Series: The Emperor and his Pilot [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, M/M, Non-sexualised violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-31 22:42:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6490210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Resistance capture someone the Emperor really does not want captured.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caged Bird

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Midgardian_Nerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midgardian_Nerd/gifts).



Emperor Ren knows something is amiss before the reports even come back. He can sense it, like a _wrongness_ in the air. There’s a sense of unease, like an itch starting to form. The way a joint feels when there’s a crack buried deep inside, waiting to be pushed back into position. Something is _wrong_. Something **vital** is wrong, and his beloved Pilot is currently out on a mission.

Poe Dameron still insists on flying the big missions. He’s never once rested on his lover’s laurels, and Kylo loves that about him. Flying is so deeply in his blood and bone that it’s almost as if he needs the time in the black to recharge, like a droid needing electricity. He flies the big missions because he needs the thrill, and because he believes in their cause. He is already the most lauded and admired pilot the Order has ever known, so it isn’t a matter of personal pride. Kylo had thought about grounding him, or pushing him to less dangerous missions, but that would be to stop Poe being the Poe he’d fallen in love with. It would be wrong, and he couldn’t clip his beloved’s wings like that.

But right now, he is wishing he had. The door sweeps open and one of his Generals stands in the doorway.

“My Lord,” she says, her voice torn. She clearly expects slaughter.  


“Tell me.”  


“My Lord, the - the -”  


Kylo has no patience for fools. He reaches his hand out, and drags her closer. Panic is rising in his chest, and her nerves grate along the inside of his mind, her discomfort making his own edge ever higher inside. He tries so very hard to keep his mood level, but he’s always relied upon Poe’s calming presence in the moments of his greatest need. 

Poe. Poe, whose love for him is eternal and undying and unbending. Poe, who followed him when no one else would. Poe, whose affection for him isn’t conditional on his moral stance. Poe, who protected him from the _voice_ , from the _Supreme Leader_. Poe, who gave him the strength to stand on his own two feet. Stand, and _win_.

Poe isn’t here, and Kylo can feel the old, familiar krayt dragon in his insides. It claws and rakes and howls, and the woman’s eyes are going red and he hears her gurgle and he realises what’s happening almost too late and he drops her. Drops her, and lowers his hand slowly.

“M-m-my L-lord… the… the mission was… a trap, an ambush.”  


“ **Where is Poe Dameron**?”  


***

Emperor Kylo does not travel with a flock of Imperial Guards. Although he has every right to - and, as Emperor, every opportunity to _make_ more rights for himself - he is perfectly capable of looking after himself. Instead, he has his shuttle filled with the troopers that Phasma hand-picked for him. He trusts her judgement implicitly, and is glad she is onboard to manage the HR side of things.

Because right now, he is in no fit state to manage anything, other than bloody murder. They have his _Poe_. And they are **monsters**. Monsters who prey on little children as much as the Leader ever did. Both sides were utterly despicable, which is why _Kylo had to come out on top_ so things would never crush him underfoot again.

He tries to reach out through the Force to him, but it’s difficult. He’s far away, or unconscious, or… no. He isn’t dead. Kylo would know if he was dead.

He wonders if he’d know how, or just feel him _go_. He’s never lost someone that close to him before. When he’d killed his Master - or his previous Master - he’d been the one to do it, so it made sense that he understood the method of their passing. But this… this…

Kylo never wants to find out. 

He can’t live without him. He will rip the galaxy in half if he has to try. Poe is the only good thing to ever happen to him, and he would throw the whole damn Empire into a black hole if only to save him.

And he’s known that, all along.

***

When they get planet-side, Kylo can sense him. Faintly, but there. A flicker of dark light, a bright flame in the distance. He’s at the head of the ramp as it lowers, and he springs out and starts running before a single trooper hits the floor.

The shuttle landed as close as it could without triggering the surface-to-air defences, which means Kylo has half a forest to run through. His senses pricked, he uses the Force to augment his long stride, his cloak and robes billowing behind him in the late afternoon haze. When he gets close enough to the defences, he leaps up and up into the tree on the edge of the foliage. Branch to branch, until he’s up in the crown of the tree. He looks at the tan stone wall and sends out a pulse of air that knocks the nearest guards flat on their asses… then springs up and over. His red blade ignites mid-fall, and describes a sigil around him that deflects every bolt that comes too close. Some fizzle into walls, but most hit a target, followed by a cry of pain.

Fear floods the air. 

Most of these soldiers have never seen a Force-sensitive, let alone one as powerful as Kylo Ren. The Emperor never needs to go to war now, the lingering threats of the Resistance are cut through with the efficiency of Phasma’s troops. Still.

They’ve heard the stories.

Several of them flee their posts. 

Kylo carves his way through the remnants, not taking a single prisoner. He pushes his hilt in to the crossguard, then slices it out through the corpse. He crushes a few windpipes. He loses count of the dead, as he goes deeper and deeper into the compound.

Behind, he hears the first troopers arriving. Late to the party, but they can mop up after him. 

Deeper, deeper in. A long corridor, a frightened guard. His hand trembles on the blaster, and Kylo can sense Poe is here. He walks the gaoler backwards, until he’s standing in front of Poe’s cell.

Poe, who is grasping the metal bars of his cage. He looks a little bumped and bruised, but less ravaged than Kylo had worried. Poe meets his gaze, and nods. Kylo turns his attention back to the guard. The man’s hand lifts - against his own better judgement - and turns to put the muzzle in his mouth. Kylo walks in to remove the keys from his belt and unlocks Poe’s cage as the man - shaking from Kylo’s control - continues to hold the blaster in his mouth, ready to blow out his brains.

“My Emperor. You came for me,” Poe says, launching himself at Kylo.  


Kylo catches him in his free hand, holding him against his torso. The saber is still turned on, but held back so it won’t accidentally burn either of them. Poe’s arms go around his neck, and they lean in to kiss, even as the guard pulls the trigger. There’s a thunk as his body hits the floor. 

“I will always come for you,” Kylo promises, even as Poe bites and sucks at his lip. He decides to return the favour. “My beautiful Pilot… what have they done to you?”  


“Nothing I couldn’t handle. But… home. I want to go home, my Lord.”  


Kylo puts Poe gently onto his feet, and then they push foreheads together. Kylo runs his mental fingers through Poe’s mind, and feels no real pain, just relief. Satisfied, he kisses him more softly. His pilot combs his fingers through his hair, then pulls him back when he’s had enough of his kisses. 

“Let me rescue you,” Kylo says, as they just hold each other for a moment longer. “Like you always rescue me.”  


“Deal,” Poe agrees. “They got nothing from me.”  


“ _Good_ , though that wasn’t my first concern.”  


“I know. I just… I wanted you to know. They got nothing. And now you’ve destroyed one of their bases.”  


“I don’t care about their bases, I care about **you** ,” Kylo reminds him. “And how I’m going to get you back home.”  


“Then do it. I need to thank you, properly. For this, and every other time.”  


Kylo thinks Poe paid him back enough for a thousand reincarnations, but if he wants to do so again, he will never object. Kylo uses the Force to levitate the guard’s blaster to Poe’s hand. 

Whatever resistance - _Resistance_ \- still remains? It stands no chance against an Emperor and his beloved Pilot. They never did. 


End file.
